I'm planning to trek the Mountains of the Moon at the end of July and make a bid on Mt Stanley's Margherita Peak. Anyone been up there recently and can comment on it? What's the condition of the glacier? What would you rate the rock pitches up to the summit? Any advice on how to make the slog through the bog less miserable? Recommended guides? Many thanks for your insights.

Herbert and Dennis were great guides with RMS, but they are all really good. None of the guides are very up to speed on their crevasse rescue, so make sure you are self sufficient. The only glacier is on summit day of Stanley. There are no rock pitches. There is a fixed ladder and a fixed rope. All the rock is class 3 and 4. There is no making the bog more pleasant. Rent the rubber boots they offer. Dont wear your mountaineering boots until summit days. Bring 4 pair of socks. I would also recommend a decent alpine start on summit day of Stanley. The route goes under a short section of serac on a very steep snow section just before the summit, and if you start at 5 or 6am, it will have been baking in the sun a while by the time you get there. And the guides dont understand the hazard. I would leave at 3 or 4, space it out and move quickly though that section. Also, it is best to take as much of your own gear as possible as they have next to nothing to rent and what they have is old and nothing I would use unless I had no other options. I would also take all my old climbing equipment to give as gifts to the guides and porters. Carabiners, accessory cord, jackets, gloves, boots, ice axes, they need it all. They have to rent their gear from RMS and it comes out of their pay. They also have nowhere to acquire it except from clients, so bring extra and leave it all behind.

Enjoy the trip. It is absolutely incredible! Spend lots of time talking to the guides and porters. It will be much more enjoyable for you if you befriend them all. It truly is a team effort . My first trip to Africa I wanted to climb unguided but I quickly learned that in Africa - the more on the team the better. More work for more people, and more experience with the culture makes it much more memorable. In Africa it's not always about climbing by yourself, but supporting the locals and experiencing the culture. They work very hard for next to nothing. Tip well. They work hard and deserve it and get paid next to nothing.